An Art Journal for the new year

Saturday's project was to create the cover of an art journal. Here are a few photos of some of our budding artists.

Art at McDonalds?

On our way to Milwaukee this Christmas we stopped in Lodi at a McDonald's for the usual break. We saw a man sitting at a table with a coffee and easel and a number of paintings that he was working on. We had a lovely chat with him and learned about his project. He is a member of an arts group in Lodi, Wisconsin. The artists are donating their talents to help the cleanup effort in Japan from the tsunami. It was great to meet him and hear what he and his other artist friends were doing to benefit the environment.

A winter solstice

A morning with flowering tea and toadally inspiring friends.

And a Merry Christmas to all our twinkling stars!

Thank you all for a lovely morning!

Where there's a twinkle, there's a star!

Make some lovely twinkle stars for your Christmas tree and make some more for grandma's tree.

Come to the Toadally Artsy Kids' Event this Saturday from 9 - 11. You can bring photos with you or you can take your decorated stars home to finish with a photo of your own twinkling stars.

Music and the Toads

I hope you were out and about during Winter Magic in Ladysmith at all the various venues. We had a wonderful day at Toad House with beautiful artwork, delicious cheese and treats, ornament making for children and music—music!

The talents of musicians in our community just blows me away. As I listened to each group or individuals who donated their gifts to making Toad House magic, I thought about how they each arrived at this point in their lives to have developed their musical abilities. I thought about what we can do to encourage and provide the structure for new, younger generations of music lovers, music teachers, and music performers.

I know that strong music programs in schools and music lessons that parents shuttle children to and cajole children into practice all make a difference. My personal interest is in what happens much earlier, in the background of parents to be, in the womb of the mother, and in the first years of a child’s life before school and music lesson have their important impact.

At Toad House we currently have a strong children’s art program, the Toadally Artsy Kids’ Events on Saturday mornings due to Andrea Korpinen’s own talents and belief in the value of early art experiences for young children and now we need to develop a music program to support families in shaping early musical training for children.

During my years as a young parent, there was such a program in Ladysmith––the Suzuki String Program taught by Pat D’Ercole. The Suzuki program changed the lives of forty-plus children and families and extended families in Rusk County, and one of the ‘graduates’ of the program helped make our day at Toad House––well,––magical!

Song

I know a jolly, happy man and

Santa is his name.

S-A-N-T-A, S-A-N-T-A, S-A-N-T-A,

S-A-N-T-A and Santa is his name.

This jolly man loves boys and girls and…

This jolly man wears red and white and…

He slides down the chimney with a pack on his back and….

Eight little reindeer pull his sleigh and…

Tune of Bingo. Repeat the spelling of Santa between each verse that you sing.